Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Medications

“There is an ethical issue because the close relationship could cloud the practitioner`s judgment,” said Buppert in Medscape Nurse`s legal and professional affairs division for nurses. Effective strategies that can help minimize medical errors include the use of clear patient information. Information such as side effects should be disclosed. This helps to dispense the right medicine, thus adhering to ethical guidelines and avoiding liability for legal implications. It may also describe “informational prescriptions,” which are written information provided to patients. The response contains specific, clear and detailed explanations of how these effects affect the prescribing physician, pharmacist, patient and patient`s family. Ethical involvement includes autonomy and the right to self-determination. Depending on the case scenario, the nurse would have to be prosecuted to allow the husband to use the hydromorphone. It is expected that the nurse will take the initiative and inform the husband of the side effects associated with narcotics.

The nurse should be prosecuted for violating the principle of charity and non-malevolence (Andrade, 2019). The nurse did not choose the best for a patient and avoided harming the patient when prescribing hydromorphone. Legal action should be taken against the patient for using a pain management strategy that is not ethically and medically justified. Nurses have an obligation to help patients and their family members understand knowledge about the ethical and legal aspects of pain management (Andrade, 2019). Health care is sometimes associated with medical errors, which often pose a threat to the patient`s recovery and sometimes lead to death. Therefore, nurses should be careful when prescribing medication. The proper use of medications is essential to achieve positive outcomes for patients. PIP: The essence of medical, legal and ethical considerations regarding the use of drugs that may have adverse side effects is.” Above all, do no harm.

In the case of oral contraceptives, this means that a doctor must consider whether the possible harmful side effects of this contraceptive are greater or lower than the occurrence of pregnancy. 1 of the most difficult problems is dealing with unknown and unforeseen long-term side effects. From a legal perspective, there is much to be said for the development of fault protection laws in the health care system. When using drugs with undesirable side effects, the informed consent of the patient should be taken into account. Informed consent should include the patient`s assessment of the risk-benefit balance. Clinically investigated medicinal products should only be administered if: (1) the informed consent of the patient or his or her substitute decision-maker has been given; 2) the physician is convinced of his or her diagnosis; and (3) existing treatments would not be satisfactory. The physician should not prescribe a drug and experimentally until he obtains information from reliable sources on 1) animal studies; (2) previous clinical trials; 3) dosage recommendations; 4) contraindications; 5) possible side effects; and (6) the safety and usefulness of the drug. The Ministry of Health, Education and Welfare formulates guidelines for human experimentation and addresses issues such as informed consent and no-fault insurance. It would also be useful to formally adopt a code of ethics for therapeutic treatment.

Tollison stated that to avoid future mistakes, clinicians should ask themselves several questions before prescribing medications: Haahr, A., Norlyk, A., Martinsen, B., & Dreyer, P. (2020). Nurses` Experiences with Ethical Dilemmas: A Review. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 258-272. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0969733019832941 nurses have different powers over medical services, drugs and controlled substances. This creates the need for nurses to understand the ethical implications associated with prescribing medications. Understanding ethical obligation allows a nurse to shed light on the common problem associated with the opioid crisis (Haahr et al., 2020). In addition, the ethical obligation for caregivers makes it effective to influence their prescription. The advantage of ethical regulation is that it helps prevent medical errors, which are a problem in the healthcare system (Haahr et al., 2020).

The article examines the case study of a nurse who prescribed her husband even though he was not her patient. · Think of two strategies you would use as an advanced nurse to guide your ethically and legally responsible decision-making in this scenario, including whether you would disclose medication errors. Prescribing involves checking that the correct dosage of the drug – including strength, administration and frequency – is prescribed, which is especially important when prescribing children. Contraindications should also be checked, including allergies, interactions with other treatments, and underlying medical conditions. This issue of the AMA Journal of Ethics examines prescription drugs from many angles. New – and very expensive – drugs designed to cure the disease, not just treat it, are here. Pete Croughan and Rebekah E. Gee explores how physicians can better allocate drugs through a subscription payment model — in this case, to cure hepatitis C infections — when Medicaid resources are limited to meet the health needs of low-income patients. Currently, 1 in 5 Americans rely on Medicaid coverage.5 Jennifer A.

Ohn and Anna Kaltenboeck assess the dependence of state Medicaid programs on drug company discounts in exchange for maintaining an open formula and question whether closed formulas restrict access to certain drugs too narrowly. Leah Rand and Govind Persad argue that closed Medicaid formulas are ethical for limiting drug spending when it results in public spending on other socially valid causes that promote health, such as early childhood education. To further promote more equitable access to medicines, Michael J. DiStefano and Jonathan S. Levin advocate for the use of cost-effectiveness analysis and decision-making tools that consider equity and promote transparency to inform policy and prescribing decisions. A situation where a 5-year-old boy is prescribed a dose of medication suitable for an adult has several implications for health care providers, the patient and his family. By making this mistake, the prescribing physician is violating the Code of Ethics for Nurses, which states that “nurses must protect the patient. potential harm if the practice appears to be weakened” (ANA, 2015, p. 13). Therefore, this nurse must receive a sufficient sentence according to the legal procedures described in the regulations of the state in which she practices. Pharmacists who receive a document with an incorrect prescription may also be exposed to a similar process if it can be proven that they did not notice and report an error even though they had the opportunity to do so.

The responsibility for patient protection concerns all healthcare providers (Pirinen et al., 2015). An important part of ethical prescribing is studying the different needs and situations of each patient. For clinicians, many of the ethical challenges of recent decades are still present today. Some of them are: As an advanced nurse who prescribes medication, you will be held accountable for people`s lives every day. Patients and their families will often trust you because of your position. With that trust comes power and responsibility, as well as an ethical and legal obligation to “do no harm.” It is important that you are aware of current professional, legal and ethical standards for advanced nurses with prescribed authority. In addition, it is important to ensure that treatment plans and drug administration/prescription comply with the regulations of the state in which you practice. Understanding how these regulations may affect the prescribing of certain medications in different states can have a significant impact on your patient`s treatment plan.

In this task, you will examine the ethical and legal implications of scenarios and consider how to respond appropriately. The patient may also suffer from this error. The health of this boy can be seriously damaged if the dose of the prescribed medication adversely affects his health. Error can lead to trivial and easily treatable concerns or serious problems and even death. In addition, the patient`s family will also face some problems.